How to Write an Executive Summary that Generates Interest

Your Executive Summary should excite the reader and help them understand the key results and conclusions in your business document, whether it’s your business proposal, business plan, annual report, case study or white paper.

Looking for inspiration?

Read the Annual Reports written by Warren Buffett and you’ll see how he does it. You know he has confidence in his company. He highlights the goods news in a nice understated way and delivers the less pleasant results with the same even tone.

Executive Summary Definition

Here’s one definition from The Handbook of Technical Writing, “An executive summary is to consolidate the principal points of a report in one place. It must cover the information in the report in enough detail to reflect accurately its content but concisely enough to permit an executive to digest the significance of the report without having to read it in full….”

What doesn’t go in the Executive Summary?

Other information that doesn’t go in the Executive Summary includes:

Acknowledgments

Background data

Cross-references

Footnotes

Industry updates

Justifications

Objectives

Project history

References

Remember to close your executive summary will a strong summary statement. This must persuade the reader that your business is a winner and the only way to do this is to turn the page and learn more about your company.

Final Tips for Writing the Business Plan’s Executive Summary

Provide a summary. The business plan itself gives the financial details.

Use strong and positive language.

No more two pages long. Don’t pad your business plan’s executive summary with fluff.

Generate interest by enticing your reader to read the rest of the business plan, not tell him everything.

Read it aloud. Does it read well or sound artificial? Is it clear and succinct?

Adjust the executive summary for your respective audience. For example, if you want to attract investors, focus on the opportunity your business provides investors and why this opportunity is so special.

Put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Does the executive summary really make you feel excited? If not, why?

The Executive Summary of any business document is the first impression you make on the reader. If your business plan’s executive summary is poorly written, dull, or cut/pasted together it will hardly get noticed and the effort you put into the rest of the document won’t be seen.

Instead, set aside two or three hours and write the best Executive Summary you can. Challenge yourself to write three hundred words that excite you, generate interest, and paint a picture of your company. People want to read about other people. Don’t forget the power of human interest.

In the end, they’re going to do business with you – not your product.

The final word goes to Warren. Here’s his take on gold, “It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.”